Archive

Seda Saar

Born in Tehran, Iran, Seda grew up in London, England before emigrating to California.

The visual and emotional effects of color, light and shadow, negative space, and the changing alignment of form are lifelong fascinations that she is constantly exploring through her art.

While she wishes that she could 3D print more, she finds acrylics intriguing with their luminous qualities of light reflection. Her work is meant to be “the visual bridge interconnecting the archetypes of nature, science, and art.”

To this end, the laws of symmetry and spatial projection are integral tools in her process.

Light truly is a guiding force for Seda. When asked what her favorite color is, she enthusiastically responds, “Theory of all colors! I love white light as it is comprised of all colors! Iridescent luminous rainbows showing intelligent physics of light – Also I love to create with light!”

It should come as no surprise then that nature, a “constant artist”, is an ongoing source of inspiration.

Zabou

After creating a masterpiece using rocks on her parents’ car, Zabou knew she’d found her calling.

Trained in Fine Arts in France with a MA in Digital Arts in London, Zabou began painting murals and fell in love. Her easily recognizable style combines bold, striking colors with gray scale representations of cultural icons. Street art, to Zabou, creates interaction between people and their environment. Her murals facilitate that interaction, as she seeks to move her paintings beyond the obvious spatial boundaries.

In addition to her public murals, Zabou has exhibited her works at the Saatchi Gallery in London and has given a TedX talk about how street art can participate in community regeneration.

Zabou finds inspiration for her artworks in everything she sees, hears, feels, and reads. Raised in the French countryside, Zabou now resides in East London and aims to paint as much of the capital as she can.

Zabou has invaded 17 countries, so look for her bold street art wherever you may be!

A Snapshot View of Zabou.

Favorite Artist: She doesn’t have only one, but hundreds!Spirit Animal: Some type of feline, like a lynx.Secret Superpower: She can drink a lot – don’t challenge her!

Roy’s People

For Roy’s People, art began as a hobby with a camera and a miniature train track. Once friends showed interest, Roy’s People began to develop his own style of ‘miniatures meet the streets’ in unique scenarios.

He creates tiny installations that reflect on the surroundings, emotions and feelings in the bigger world. Using the differences in size as part of the commentary, Roy’s People brilliantly achieves humorous pieces that are both fun and thought-provoking. Or as he puts it, “I customize miniature figures to depict a fantasy world beneath our feet on the streets.”

Don’t believe that an artist suffers for his craft? Roy’s People adapts all of his figurines from their original form and, as a result, his fingers are often superglued together.

Part of a growing contingent of artists trained in their craft instead of in art school, Roy’s People shies away from the title of artist, preferring to be identified as a “creative.” Nevertheless he will point out that he is a qualified Ford technician.

Since his more humble beginnings, he has attracted the attention of major brands and carried out commissions forGillette, Nikon, Sea World, Time Out, as well as many others.

A Snapshot View of Roy’s People.

Favorite Artist: Banksy.Spirit Animal: Hippo – they’re chilled out!Secret Superpower: Yet to discover one! *For Roy’s People’s sake, we wish for it to be the power to escape superglue!*

Mirjam Siim

Mirjam Siim started using watercolors more on her frequent travels. Moving between different countries, it was a medium that fit in a backpack along with the rest of her life.

She continues to prefer it, despite settling down in Portugal, because water colors are sensitive and unpredictable for painting. They are good for improvising, allowing you to work in layers as you both fill large areas and add lots of details. The medium works well with her signature style that is calming and dreamy. Creating beautiful, contemplative scenes, Mirjam invites her viewers to pause for a moment while considering a delightful parallel, imagined world. A woman with many hats, she is also an active graffiti artist in and around Porto as well as a product designer and jeweller.

She found her creative self at an early age when she began to imitate her older sister.

Since then she studied at both Tartu Art College in Estonia and Porto University in Portugal. Despite plans and efforts to work in other areas, her creative side has always shined through. It was not until her twenties that she finally dedicated herself fully to studying and practicing different forms of art.

Mirjam’s favorite colors became self-evident when she realized more than half her wardrobe, and her paintings, are the vivid colors of turquoise and ocher.

A Snapshot View of Mirjam Siim

Favorite Artist: Gustav Klimt. Spirit Animal: Considering how much I like cheese, my spirit animal must be a mouse.Secret Superpower: Making lists and planning. And eating a lot of cheese without getting fat.

Alex Maganiotis

At age 13, Alexandros Maganiotis covered his room with pictures from music magazines, creating his own collage installations.

Even then, he knew he would be unable to stay away from art. Born and raised in Greece, Alexandros studied architecture in both Athens and London. His background as an architect influences his art practice today, as his favorite medium is ink on paper.

Drawing from a wide array of sources including ancient myths, modern authors, and the vibrant streets of Athens, Alexandros creates surreal works rife with meaning for his discerning audience.

Layered references combined with the precise medium of ink on paper allow him to create detailed compositions that are a feast for both the eyes and the mind.

With his studio just below the ancient Acropolis of Athens, Alexandros can step outside and walk around whenever he is short on inspiration.

That he often finds ideas for artwork from his dreams should come as no surprise given the otherworldly quality found in many of his compositions.

A Snapshot View of Alexandros Maganiotis.

Favorite Artist: Francis Bacon. Spirit Animal: For him, the horse has freedom and kindness and an amazing elegance.Secret Superpower: His superpower is his intuition… he know things before they are about to happen, it is a feeling he has that in the end is verified.

Paul Kingsley Squire

Paul Kingsley Squire nearly pursued a Foundation in Art, but opted instead to play guitar and sing in a band.

His time in music pushed him along his circuitous path to art. He designed much of his band’s artwork and developed a portfolio that inspired his first exhibition, “Manipulations”.

Following the birth of his first child, Paul turned his focus towards digital and graphic work with web design. He never stopped making art with the result that his painting and artistic work developed with the web.

About 10 years ago he began working in oil paints to avoid spending his life in front of a computer.

Paul’s constant interest in metamorphosis and transformation can be found across his diverse body of work from the textural surfaces of his oils to the animal headed hybrids of his digital work. He is a self-taught artist, and grew up copying Marvel characters –especially Spiderman – and Asterix and Obelix.

Paul can find inspiration in the least likely moments, and his innovative artworks reflect his own admiration for artists that deviate from trends to carve their own niches.

A Snapshot View of Paul Kingsley Squire

Favorite Artist: Among the many he lists (such as Lucian Freud,Vincent Van Gogh, John Byrne, and Maggie Hambling), Paul includes Mike Mignola,the artist behind the Hellboy comics. Spirit Animal: The Stag.Secret Superpower: Flying.

Gregg Chadwick

Gregg Chadwick’s early memories of art come from a room of full of Rembrandts in Amsterdam.

His family was newly reunited after his military dad’s extended absence and he was overjoyed at being together again.

“Everything seemed to make sense in that light-filled room and I knew then that art was powerful and that I wanted to learn how to be an artist. I haven’t stopped learning since.”

Several decades later, Gregg is a successful artist with paintings included in the collections of the Adobe Corporation, the Gilpin Museum, the Graciela Hotel – Burbank, the Harbor Court Hotel – San Francisco; the Kimpton Group’s headquarters in San Francisco, the National Museum of the Marine Corps, Nordstrom Company Headquarters, the W Hotel Hollywood, and Winona State University.

The ongoing beauty in the struggles and triumphs of the human existence inspires his artistic production. Keeping Dave Isay’s phrase “Listening is an act of love” in mind, he opens himself to others’ stories.

He combines those stories with his own memories, dreams, and desires to create images that resonate with our lived existence.

A Snapshot View of Gregg Chadwick

Favorite Artist: They include Richard Diebenkorn, Mark Rothko, R.B. Kitaj, David Hockney, Alice Neel, Georgia O’Keefe, and many more.Spirit Animal: A bear – something that he’s felt since he was a kid. Secret Superpower: He’s never owned a watch but always knows what time it is. No alarm clocks for him.

Pernilla Iggstrom

While Pernilla Iggstrom started to draw as soon as she could hold a pen, she only realized concretely that she was an artist-in-the-making through her work in the corporate world, when she felt the strong urge to indulge her creative side again.

Born in Korea and raised in Sweden, she earned her BA in Fine Art from City & Guilds of London Art School. Due to her multicultural background, she is particularly sensitive to questions of identity formation and she is constantly exploring its layers and meanings through her work.

Family photos often inform her questions and then, “the painting process allows me to expand the potential of my ideas – reducing some of the overly specific imagery to something more universally accessible.”

“My personal story is of course core, as it motivated my investigations into notions of identity, but there are also far reaching aspects to what I am saying that I want to address.”

When her energy runs out, she refuels with nature – the forest, fields, or the ocean. After living around the world, Pernilla now is based in Brentwood, Essex, with a studio nearby in Purfleet, Essex.

Athena Anastasiou

Athena is an art scholar and post graduate from Central St Martins best known for her vibrant and eclectic large-scale oil paintings.

She has exhibited in numerous group shows around London, Portugal and Morocco. A keen advocate for the emerging art scene in London, Athena is the Founder of a pop up Art Gallery and collective called “Meet The Artists” that has represented over 100 emerging artists from London. In her exciting new series ‘Essence,’ Athena works with bold colorful strokes, exposed linen and layers of resin.

She uses oil paints to sculpt her portraits, scraping away as much paint and detail as possible whilst still retaining the feeling of a person.She strips portraiture back to its bare essence, emphasising the silent and captivating dialogue between the sitter and viewer.

“My portrait paintings are continual explorations of color, form and texture. I am currently investigating how far I can stretch the form whilst still portraying the essence and energy of a person.”

Athena is particularly interested in exploring empowerment and community – how we can unite cultures through the revolutionary tool of ART.

A Snapshot View of Athena Anastasiou

Favorite Artist: Picasso, as he can paint like a master yet he chose to paint like a child, and that took a lifetime. She loves his playfulness, his uniqueness of artistic style and his bold and bright use of colour in his work.Spirit Animal: A soaring eagleSecret Superpower: She can fly.

Ivo Spirov

Ivo Spirov’s creativity was nurtured by his parents from a very young age. His mother, the then Director of PR at the National Art Gallery of Bulgaria, allowed him to paint on the walls of their apartment in Sofia.

The drawings and paintings from his youth still adorn his parents’ walls. It wasn’t until his late 20s that Ivo turned his passion into a profession.

Today, he works with acrylics because they allow him to create flat, distinctive colors. Frequent collaborations with a photographer provide a multi-media approach suitable for juxtaposing ideas and imagery.

For Ivo his art is about connecting with his inner child.

Japanese animation was very influential on the young Ivo, a lasting impression that is visible in his unique artistic style. He often works with repetitive details to tell stories. For example, he believes that in contemporary society, “We speak without really saying anything and look without seeing.

The lips and eyes that I use in my work are symbolic of the trap of this disconnected way of being as well as an invitation to return to genuine communication.”

A Snapshot View of Ivo Spirov

Favorite Artist: Hayao Miyazaki, Katsuhiro Otomo, and James Jean. Spirit Animal: The wolf. They are proud creatures, loyal and playful with those they love and fierce when they need to be.Secret Superpower: Flying.